Jethro 3: No Place Like Home by Chris Hechtl Read Free Book Online Page B

ship to a helms rating to continue their journey. He exited the pod to find a grateful Lieutenant Yu waiting.
    “Ma'am, were you here the whole time?”
    “Are you kidding me? I don't think anyone got a wink of sleep. Okay, well, maybe your fellow jarheads, but...” Janice shrugged as she handed the Selkie a cup of coffee. He took it but only stared at it, hands shaking slightly.
    “I don't think I can drink it now, ma'am, I just need a rack.”
    “I understand. Good job though,” she said, taking the cup back.
    “Aye, aye, ma'am,” he replied, coming to attention. She smiled as he saluted her. She returned the salute. “Permission to be dismissed?”
    “Go on, get out of here. Go sleep for a day or two. You've got my permission,” she said with a nod.
    “Oorah that ma'am,” he said softly, beating a hasty retreat off the bridge. “Rack, here I come,” he said, ignoring his growling stomach. Okay, he thought, grab a food bar, then hit the head, then the rack....

 
    Chapter 3
     
    The six point five parsec jump to Briev was a bit rough; they hadn't had time to fine tune the nodes in the bow with the rest on the ship and it showed. Energy efficiency was subpar, and Chief Chowler wasn't happy about it. Nor was the ops officer.
    They tried to fine tune the nodes, but some of the modifications required hands-on changes to two of the nodes so had to be put off.
    They entered the jump point and then quickly reoriented for the skip jump. Renee didn't even bother to scan the inner system; they wouldn't be here long enough and she didn't want to distract her crew or take time away from the computers.
    Chief Chowler focused his repair efforts on the two balky nodes, getting them squared away and his people inside with minutes to spare before their next jump. Deja made the jump quickly, this time adjusting their course in a curve around the system. There was a bit of turbulence at the end when he cut the angle a little too close to get to the next jump point leading to B452c, but the ship's systems handled it well.
    Twenty-four hours after jumping to Briev they transitioned into the jump to B452c. Deja gratefully passed over the helm duty to Janice and then headed to his rack for a well-deserved downtime.
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    Twelve point four days in Delta band and six point nine parsecs later the ship exited into the B452c system. The system was an empty one but a crossroads. There were no habitable planets or other structures in the system; it had never been colonized. The ship repeated it's skip in reverse, arriving at the jump point to Agnosta in twenty-three hours. Unfortunately, the skip prevented them from stripping the satellites Admiral Irons had left behind to monitor the system.
    “I think we're getting the hang of this,” Janice said with a smile to the skipper.
    “Well, I should hope so. We've had enough practice now,” the Captain teased with a smile. Janice snorted softly.
    “Chief, are we ready to go?”
    “Aye, aye, ma'am. She's as ready as we'll get her now,” the Chief replied.
    “Hardly reassuring,” Janice murmured. She didn't like how the nodes were out of balance. They had been forced to take one node out during the jump to Briev, and it had left her a bit suspicious of it even after using it to jump to B452c. It seemed fine, but she still didn't trust it.
    “All right, well, steady as she goes then,” Renee said, sitting back and making a passing motion with her hand.
    “The star to the left and straight on to morning, aye, ma'am.”
    “Neverland,” Renee replied with an amused sniff. “I remember the stories. And I think it goes...” she paused and cleared her throat. “Second star to the right and straight on till morning,” she corrected.
    “Aye, ma'am,” Janice replied.
    “Some navigator you are,” Renee teased as she picked up her tablet and began to read.
    Janice snorted and went about her duties.
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    By the time Firefly had made the next